The present invention relates to portable apparatus which functions as an administrative computer, processing information relating to location or other administrative aspects of equipment to be tested, as well as having devices for performing the testing of equipment.
A number of industries include, as part of their operation, field representatives or similar personnel who perform service calls, including traveling to locations where company equipment is installed. Service calls include calls for the purpose of testing, repairing and maintaining equipment, as well as calls for the purpose of gathering data such as usage and billing data, and sales calls. One example of a field representative is a repair person for a telephone company who travels to locations where telephone equipment is installed for the purpose of testing and/or repairing the equipment. In the past, companies with field representatives have provided them with administrative computers for assisting with administrative functions such as storing and displaying the location of the equipment to be tested, addresses of customers who have requested service, and the like. The information can also include equipment serial number or other identifying information, "trouble" ticket information such as information identifying a report of an equipment malfunction by customer name and date of complaint, telephone numbers, and other location-identifying information. Administrative computers can also provide functions such as scheduling or dispatching field representatives, billing, storing information about the service call, and the like. The administrative computers are often portable. Some such computers are hand-held, that is, of sufficiently small size and weight that the computer can be held in one hand.
Although administrative computers have been used by field representatives, prior art administrative computers suffer from certain shortcomings. Typically, after an administrative computer has directed a field representative to make a service call, the field representative will make a report regarding the results of the service call. When the administrative computer is used in connection with making a report of test results, the field representative has been obligated to manually enter information into the administrative computer, usually by using a keyboard or keypad on the administrative computer. Such manual entry of information is time consuming and represents an opportunity for transcription errors. Further, in the past, the test-result information entered typically has involved only a summary or synopsis of test results. The consequent failure to record all test results represents a loss of valuable data which might have been used, for example, for statistical analyses of equipment reliability or making reports which are required by government agencies. Thus, if the company desires or requires such information, an additional service call may be needed to record the data which has already been obtained once.
An additional disadvantage of prior art systems is that the field representative's report must be manually correlated with "trouble ticket" information for the company to document that a customer complaint or report has been satisfactorily resolved. The manual correlation of "trouble tickets" with test results or other reports requires more time of the field representative and introduces another opportunity for error.
The above examples illustrate cases in which transfer of information regarding the service call into the administrative computer has required manual or human intervention. There are also instances of inefficiency resulting from transfer of information in the opposite direction, i.e., from the administrative computer to the field representative. For example, an administrative computer might contain information regarding the type of malfunction reported or the type of test which is required. In response to this information the field representative then manually configures test equipment to conduct the necessary tests. This configuration procedure requires additional time by the field representative and again represents an opportunity for introduction of error, particularly if the field representative misunderstands the type of tests which are needed.
Furthermore, some previous devices have a deficiency in that they fail to provide a number of desirable features. For example, many previous devices which permit communication to and from the administrative computer provide for communication only over physical media such as telephone lines, coaxial cable and the like. Many previous devices have little or no capacity for generating desirable test tones for placement onto telephone lines. Many previous devices have limited or no capability for graphics display and in particular cannot provide a graphics display that provides a time reference for a measurement. Many previous devices provided insufficient voltage or surge protection such as insufficient fusing or, when fusing was provided, failed to provide for simple and rapid replacement of blown fuses.
Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus which does not require the intervention of the field representative or any other manual manipulation or input to conduct testing in accordance with information stored in the administrative computer, and does not require intervention to report the results of a service call for storage or processing by the administrative computer. There is further a need for an apparatus that provides additional capabilities such as independence from physical media for communication purposes, sufficient tone generation capacity, enhanced graphic capability, and simple and rapid fuse replacement.